Third-rail protector.



- No.806,152 I PATENTBDDBG.5,1905.

W. H. KOBER M. B. WATIBR.

THIRD RAIL PROTECTOR. APPLIGATYION, rum HA3. 6, 1505.

Attorneys WILLIAMH. KoBER AND CHARLES: E. WATIER, OF LANCASTER, OHIO.

- THIRDQ-V'BQAIL PROTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

Application filed March 6, 1905. Serial No. 248,762.

.To all whom, it Wmy concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. KoBER and CHARLES E. 'WATIER, citizens of the United States, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Fairfield and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Third-Rail Protector, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices of that class employed for preventing accidental contact of persons or animals with the third rail of electrical railways.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shield that may be applied at comparatively small cost and will serve to protect the rail from accumulations of ice or snow.

A still further obj ect' of the invention is to provide a protecting-shield formed of fireproof material that will not be injured by accidental fires along the railway-track; and a still further object is to provide a novel form of shield so arranged that snow or dustwhich may enter between the shield and rail willnot accumulate, but will pass downward to a point below the rail.v v I With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of con-' struction and arrangement of parts, herein after fully described, illustrated in the accom panying drawings, and=particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawin s, Figure 1 is a' sectional perspective view 0 a third rail, illustrating the application thereto of a shield constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view showing the point of connection between two sections of the shield. Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating a slightly-modified construction.-

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The shield forming the subject of the present invention comprises twomain parts, one arranged near the inner face of the rail and' the other protecting the outer face and top of the rail, and each 1s formed of a number'ofsectionsconnected together to form a practically continuous shield open at one side for the entrance of the brush or other currentcollecting device carried by the car.

These third rails are usually mounted at some distance above the ground and in the present instance are shown as supported. on blocks 10, which may be secured to the crossties or other supports, and said blocks are arranged in spaced relation, so that there will be little or no danger of accumulation of snow or dirt.

The inner shield is formed of a plurality of sections 11, each comprising an outer sheetmetal plate and an inner sheet 12, formed of asbestos or other suitable material and united to the sheet metal by asphalt or othersecuring agent. The sections 10 are bent out at the bottom to form horizontal flanges 13,

which maybe secured by spikes or nails 14 to the supports 10, and each section is arran ed to overlap the next adjacent section, so t at a single securing device may be employed for both. The layers of insulating material may be bent over the upper ed es of the metal, as indicated at 14, especia y at the uncture of the sections, so that the latter maybe securely held from displacement, and, if necessary, auxiliary fastening devices may be employed to secure the approximately vertical webs of the sections to each other. The outer shield member is also formed of a plurality of overlapping sections, these sections being of any convenient'length and preferably formed of sheet metal of sufficient strength to support the weight of a person or animal without bendin The sections are united to each other by olts 17, that extend through insulating-bushings 18, so that in case one section ecomes energized, as by contact with the current-collecting device, the remaining sections of the shield will be cut ofi. These sections aresu ported at equal intervals by brackets 19, t at are extended downward to the cross-ties 2O or other suitable supports and are braced by diagonals 21, secured to the horizontal and vertical arms of said bracket. The plates 16 have their inner faces lined with sheets of asbestos 22, or some similar non-conducting material may be employed, and these sheets serve, in connection with the insulating-bushings 18, to prevent any electrical connection sulation being employed to prevent electrical contact between said sections, and with a construction of this character only that section adjacent to the car will be ener ized,

- while all of the remaining sections will e insulated.

It will be observed that the lower edge of the outer section is at a point some distance above the foot of the rail and that the lower flange of the inner section is arranged inward from the foot of the rail, so that in case snow or dust enters the open slot left for the current-collector the material so entering may pass down between the shield members and the rail and will not be held against-the rails 20 by said shield member.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is In a third-rail system, a shield member formed of a plurality of transversely-curved metallic strips, each having an insulatinglining, the ends of the strips and the linin s overlapping, and the lining of the outer strip serving to insulate the strips from each other, insulated securing bolts connecting said strips, and supporting -brackets extending over the strips and rigidly secured thereto to form strengthening-braces for the shield.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM II. KOBER. CHARLES E. WATIER. Witnesses:

W. J. FRITZ, L. LACEY. 

